The showdown that will split apart the heavens,
Yakitate!! 9!
Here are the contestants!
What’s this?
There’s only one contestant from St. Pierre’s side.
I’ve seen him somewhere before.
Isn’t he Tsubodzuka Takumi, a member of CMAP?
Oh, that’s right!
Hey, wait!
They’re having an entertainer as our opponent, and there’s just one of them, too...
Are they making fun of us?
Hey, you bald baker...
Be quiet.
Who you calling bald?!
I’m not bald anymore!
Shut it!
Just concentrate on Super Taste Judge Kuroyanagi Ryou’s explanation of the game’s rules.
Fine.
Take a look at the nine yakitate panels that are posted on this screen.
Beneath each of these panels is the name of a city.
You will be having a bread battle that utilizes the selected city’s specialty products.
The winner will obtain that panel,
and in the end, the side with the most panels will win.
However, this is television!
There are various activities under several panels.
But, let’s leave that aside.
You’re leaving that aside?
So, let’s open the very first panel!
Ooma
Note: 大間: The 大 can be read as both “oo” and “dai,” and 間 can be read as both “ma” and “kan.” Kawachi wasn’t familiar with how to read the word.
Daikan? Ookan?
Ookan?
Isn’t it Ooma?
Ooma
That’s right. Ooma.
This is Ooma, a city in Aomori prefecture, Shimokita district.
Map Television, open!
Ooma
Your battle will be here,
a small port-city at the northernmost point of the island of Honshuu.
There’s English bread, German bread, and French bread,
but Japan’s bread, Japan, does not exist.
In that case, there’s no choice but to create it.
This story is a serious, biographical ballad of a boy who possesses Solar Hands,
Azuma Kazuma, who will create a Japanese bread made by and for the Japanese people,
which can be presented to the world proudly.
kono koe todoke tai yo, mada chiisana uta dakedo
I want this voice to reach you, even though it’s still a tiny song.
hajimaru yokan ga suru kara
That’s because I have the feeling that something’s gonna start.
Yakitate!! Japan
Translated by: Anime-Empire
hitori de uzukumari, koe shizume nagara otoshita namida wa
As I was cowering, muffling my voice, the tears that I shed
“shinjiru koto wasurekaketeru to” to
probably helped me notice that
kidzukase tekureta no kamo shirenai
I’ve almost forgotten how to believe.
egaita mirai wo
The future that I painted (I will fulfill it)
(kanaerunda)
hareta sora miagete
Looking up to the clear skies,
mouichido hashiri dasu yo. Itsuka ano shiroi sora
I begin to run once again. Someday, I want to dye
watashi iro ni sometai na
that white sky with my colors.
dokomademo tondoyuku yo. Biidama mitai ni hikaru
I’m going to fly as far as possible, shining like a marble,
kono hane wo hirogete
unfolding these wings of mine.
The bread battle in special localities!!
In the end, he’s a pop idol!
The bread battle in special localities!!
In the end, he’s a pop idol!
Oh! He’s on the front page of this magazine!
Aren’t these TRUMP guys amazing?
It’s CMAP, you idiot.
CMAP...
Cooking Meal Assemble People.
It’s an acronym, meaning “people assembled to cook and taste.”
It’s Japan’s supreme group of idol cooks.
For our first match, we have someone really strong turn up, huh?
But... Being too strong isn’t a good thing, either.
Don’t you think so?
You really fail as a person.
Yeah, a failure of a human being.
But, Kanmuri...
What’s the specialty product of this Ooma city that we’re going to?
If we don’t even know that, we can’t possibly start to make the bread.
Super tuna is the most famous.
Note: Supermarkets act called “supers” in Japan. Therefore, Kazuma thinks that super tuna is tuna sold at a super, that is, supermarket.
Tuna you buy from a supermarket?
How can that be?!
But what is that, Kanmuri-kun?
Ooma is an extremely famous fishing harbor
that produces large quantities of superior quality seafood.
And amongst them, the tuna, which is widely known as “super tuna,”
Note: Tsukiji (築地) is a fish market in Tokyo.
can fetch as much as 20,000 yen per kilogram at Tsukiji.
What was that?!
So, 200 kilos of tuna would go for... umm...
4 million yen?!
However, no matter how delicious a bread we make,
if it’s so expensive that neither the locals nor the tourists can afford it, we can’t win.
This is quite a difficult problem.
The northernmost city of Honshuu – Ooma
We’re finally here.
Uh...
These are our lodgings?!
Shinisou...
Shinisou
Note: Shinisou (氏煮荘): The “sou” here means “villa.” Shini is the name of the villa. But “shinisou” (死にそう) can also mean “about to die.”
Yeah, it sure does look like it’d die at any moment.
Kanmuri-kun...
It can’t be helped.
At the very least, we must be thrifty, or all of our money will disappear quickly.
But...
According to Mr. Kirisaki’s conditions,
the televising and production fees of the program are all our responsibility.
You mean our enemy’s lodging expenses and stuff are all our...
Yep.
The enemy team’s lodging expenses...
The lodging expenses of Kuroyanagi-senpai and the program staff...
The transportation expenses, the food and drink expenses...
All those bills are sent to us.
The one thing that St. Pierre will be paying for on their own
is the money spent on making their own bread.
H-How terrible.
Why did we accept those conditions?
Didn’t we all get carried away and accept them?!
Okay, so I guess we must all save, right, Kanmuri-kun?
Shigoroku Sushi
There’s no need to hold back.
Shigoroku Sushi
Please eat all you like.
This is good. Just as expected!
The fat is still attached! It’s great!
Note: Toro (とろ) refers to the fatty belly portion of tuna.
Chef, super toro please,
50 more pieces.
Right-o.
After all, they’re going to be paying for this.
I’ll eat enough to kill them off.
What’s wrong, Tsubodzuka-kun?
Eat up.
This tuna gets a Negative.
Huh?
I’d like a more aggressive, Positive feel to it.
I-I wonder, is this kid quite all right...?
With such a popular idol, we should be able to rake in the viewers...
Moreover, Kirisaki gave him his seal of approval as a cook...
That’s why we requested his participation...
Chef.
This is a little too terrible.
Can I have you change with me?
What was that?!
Hey, Tsubodzuka-kun!
I’m sorry. Please don’t worry about it.
You damn brat.
Don’t be causing unnecessary problems.
Hey, youngster.
By “change,” do you mean you want to exchange places with me?
Sounds like fun. Why don’t we see what you’ve got.
Oh, no!
Note: Ootoro (大とろ): The fattiest and usually most expensive meat of the tuna. There is also chuutoro (中とろ), which is medium grade and less fatty and expensive.
Here you go. Your order of 50 pieces of ootoro.
What?!
I-I don’t believe it.
I’ve been doing this for 30 years.
To think that he can make it so much faster than me...?!
Chef... This is the real toro.
What do you mean by “real toro”?
Whether or not you make it fast, the toppings are the same.
So, it will obviously taste the same.
And it’s caught. Splash!
Delicious!
It tastes completely different from my toro!
It feels like snow melting in my mouth.
How can this be?
You cut with the grain, right?
Yeah.
Normally, toro is cut against the muscles,
that is, you cut against the grain.
But, by cutting along the grain,
Tsubodzuka separated out each muscle, creating a toro that melts like snow.
What a guy...
That’s how you made them so fast, is it?
That’s not all.
What was that?
Try eating the piece that’s on the extreme right.
This is the actual sinew of the muscle, right?
You can’t feed this to people!
Please file your claims after having tried it.
It couldn’t possibly be good!
It’s delicious!
The more I chew, the more the flavor deepens and seeps out!
The sinew of the muscle has the tuna’s deep flavor.
Of course it’s good to eat.
Also, it’s been pressed firmly, making it good for chewing.
Listen up, Chef.
While it’s just called “toro,” there are many ways of making it!
You may very well have been doing this for 30 years,
but if you’re just doing it the same as everyone else, you’re no different from a robot!
I-I give up.
Looks like his skills are a sure thing.
I’m relieved.
Tsubodzuka-kun, can I order 30 more pieces?
Mr. Yamaka, that’s really eating a bit too much.
No, there’s no more toro.
If I use too much in a day, I won’t last until August.
Huh? What do you mean?
Can’t you just fish more tuna from here?
We begin to catch tuna in the summer. The colder it gets, the fattier the tuna are.
We only fish in Ooma from August until January.
But, Ooma is known for its tuna.
Hotel Utopia
But, Ooma is known for its tuna.
Ooma’s hotels and sushi shops store the tuna in freezers and get it out from February to April.
Eh?
So, what if the stuff in the freezer were to run out?
In that case, I’d go to a nearby hotel or some place that stores tuna
and ask them to split some with me.
And should the stock in the hotel run out too...?
In that case, we can’t do anything.
Is that so?
I can use this.
It looks like everybody’s here.
Then, let me once again explain the details of the rules to you.
First, you must use a specialty food of Ooma in your bread.
As long as at least one specialty food is included,
you can use any number of other ingredients in it.
But, if you use items from near the city and within the prefecture,
it will gain you points.
The biggest objective of this battle is to create a long-lasting bread for each area.
By using the specialties of the area,
you must make a bread that will be loved by both tourists and the locals.
The time limit is 3 days.
I can’t thinik of any way to use super tuna.
For now, how about trying to get some tuna?
That’s right.
Yeah, first let’s go and see.
What was that?!
There’s no tuna?!
Yeah, we got nonstop orders for tuna since yesterday.
Hotel Utopia
No way!
Hotel Utopia
Here, too?!
Hotel Utopia
I’m very sorry, but we’re sold out on all the tuna here.
I hate to say it, but since we don’t have any here...
I would bet that you won’t find tuna anywhere in Ooma.
What does this mean...?
How can all of the super tuna in Ooma be sold out?
If would be safe to assume that someone bought out the entire supply.
Do you think that it’s a scheme of Yukino’s?!
This is just about the season when the frozen tuna is defrosted and offered to tourists.
She must have set her eyes on the fact that the supply is limited.
So, what are we supposed to do, then?
Say, Kanmuri...
What are the months that most tourists come here?
W... Well, from around the end of April to around Golden Week in May.
This is the northernmost point of Honshuu.
In the winter, it’s too cold and no tourists come.
How about the summers then?
Most seafood, including tuna, caught in the summer is watery and therefore bad.
That’s why no one comes in the summer either.
Then, let’s not use tuna.
Why not?!
No matter how superbly delicious Ooma’s tuna is...
it’s ultimately frozen stuff, right?
But, when you travel, wouldn’t you want to eat fresh food?
Isn’t that what people would normally want?
If we want to make a bread that would
be popular among both tourists and locals like Old Man Kuroyanagi wants,
then I don’t think this will do.
I see...
But, then...
Well, lookie here... If it isn’t the folk from Pantasia...
Yukino!
Eating super tuna sushi under the sky of the northernmost point of Honshuu
is really special...
What are you here for?!
I actually came here with the thought of sharing some with you...
Huh?
Here you go.
What’s this?
Tuna eyeballs.
Tuna eyeballs have a lot of DHA in them,
so I thought that if you sucked on them, you might come up with a good idea.
See ya, then!
What’s with her?!
I’ve decided.
Let’s go with that.
Oh, Kanmuri-chan...
You’ve thought of something good?
Was it due to the effect of the tuna eyeballs?
That’s not possible, is it?
Isn’t this a fishery?
Oh, sea urchins!
They’re alive!
Unlike tuna and other seafood that are harvested in winter,
sea urchin is harvested from March to June.
So it’s the perfect ingredient for Golden Week, when most tourists visit.
Ooma’s sea urchins are really high quality,
and are many times cheaper than super tuna.
Also, most sea urchins exported to Tokyo and far-off places
are preserved in pickeringite, a very bitter preservative.
But if they’re cooked where they’re caught, there isn’t a need for that.
So, we should be able to cook urchin here, bringing out its flavor to the maximum.
All right, that’s great!
This is purple sea urchin, right?
The roe of purple urchin is white. The whiter the roe is, the sweeter it is.
And the roe of Ooma’s urchins looks really white!
There’s purple and white sea urchin, Kanmuri-kun?
You really don’t know?
Nope.
Typically, there are two varieties of sea urchin that are eaten.
Bafu urchin, harvested in winter, has red roe.
The roe of Ooma’s urchin, purple urchin, is white.
Why do you know so much about them, Azuma-kun?
Well, our family grows rice, after all.
So we also do business with sushi shops.
You really know a lot, Mio-chan.
With this urchin, I can make it!
Ooma Japan, the highest quality chawanmushi-bread!
Note: Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) refers to savory egg custard.
Ch-Chawanmushi-bread?
Kawachi, I have a favor to ask of you.
Would you make me some French bread?
No! If Kawachi-san were to make it, we’d lose!
That’s right, Azuma!
What are you making me say, you ass!
No, it has to be Kawachi who makes it.
After all, that French bread must taste bad.
Taste bad, you say?
What an amazing trailer!
This is a special trailer made for the cooking confrontations for the Yakitate!! 9 show.
The interior contains cooking instruments
and everything else you could possibly need to bake bread.
The program has a lot of our matches on location.
Therefore, something like this is absolutely essential.
Umm... Could it be that this is also...?
Of course, it’s a part of the production cost of the program.
So, it’s being paid for out of our wallets.
By the way, one trailer is 50 million yen.
Five... Five... Five...?!
By the way, both Pantasia and St. Pierre have their own,
so in total, there are two.
100 million yen?!
How can this be...?
I’m making bad French bread that won’t be worth a single yen
in a trailer worth 50 million yen...
Would you look at that.
It’s made pretty well.
I’m surprised.
How’s that? You understand my strength now...?
What is it, Azuma?
Are you touched that it’s done so well?
No! This is not good! Not good!
Wait... What is it?
Your bread wasn’t this crunchy before.
It was just slightly sticky, and was therefore kind of bad.
Sticky?
That’s what I want!
Huh?
I don’t want the present Kawachi.
Please go back to the way you used to be!
Asking for something like that is...
I made the slashes shallow, the loaf shorter and the ends flatter like you asked.
What can I do to make it worse?
Short with flat ends?
I see!
Could it be that the chawanmushi-bread that you’re aiming for is like this...
And, like that...?
Yep.
I was right!
Kawachi-san, make the bread again, and this time add a little more water please.
Excuse me?
Understood?
Just go back to the way you used to be.
Then, you’ll be able to satisfy Azuma-kun by making a bad French bread.
Well then, I’m off.
Hey, where are you going?
I’ve finally figured out what it is that Azuma-san is aiming for.
So, I’m going to obtain a secret weapon.
A... A secret weapon?
Azuma-san!
Oh, Tsukino! And Manager!
It’s finally time for the first match, right?
Are the preparations going well?
They’re perfect!
Kanmuri got me a secret weapon,
and Kawachi has made me some bad French bread.
B... Bad?
Listen up.
We will now begin the first match of Yakitate!! 9, Ooma.
Well then, let’s...
Mr. Judge.
I have a request.
What is it?
I was wondering if I could use my personal oven for this match.
Would that be all right?
What?
You’ve brought it with you?
I don’t mind, but I won’t forgive you for interrupting me again.
Okay.
His personal oven?
Well then, once again...
Hey!
Can I also use my personal Ooma city garbage bag?
Whether it’s your personal Ooma item, or your personal Aomori item,
or your personal Tokyo bag, just do as you like.
I can’t do that.
Since it’s a bread battle using the area’s specialty items,
I want to use a local garbage bag too.
Fine, whatever.
Huh? Wait.
A garbage bag?
He okayed it.
He’s planning something weird again, isn’t he?
There isn’t anything else, is there?
All right!
Then, let’s start!
Then, can you help out here, Kanmuri?
Kawachi has to make bad French bread!
After that, just as Kanmuri asked, I made French bread with more water in it.
Oh, this is bad!
This is what I wanted!
This slight stickiness is what makes it your bread!
What a messed-up compliment...
Look here!
When we first met,
my bread may have been stickier than yours since I wasn’t born with Solar Hands.
But now, I have Solar Gauntlets,
and my skills as a baker have improved as well.
So, it’s not easy for me to make bad bread.
In order to get rid of the effect of the Solar Gauntlets,
I had to cool down my muscles in iced wafer.
The North Pole Hands!
Also, while kneading the dough, instead of doing it lightly like you or Manager,
I mashed up the flour and the removed the gas after fermentation by punching the dough.
And then, this is the bread that was created.
Somehow... Making bread while remembering my old self has made my nose leak.
I think I was a really terrible baker when I first came to Pantasia.
What a nostalgic taste.
He’s not listening to me...
Well then, I’ll go select some good urchins for tomorrow.
I’m expecting the same terrible bread in the match tomorrow as well.
In the end, I’m being made to make bad French bread without knowing the reason why.
Are we really all right?
The enemy comes in with his own personal oven, and we have...
bad French bread and an Ooma city garbage bag.
As expected... CMAP is amazing, right?
That man’s skills are pretty good.
Right now, he’s making two types of dough. Do you know what types of dough those are?
Uh... One is probably pie dough.
That stiffness probably means that it’s pastry dough.
Yeah.
So, what about the other?
Hmm...
Note Choux dough (pâte à choux): This is the basic dough used to make eclairs, profiteroles and cream puffs.
It’s choux dough.
By choux dough, do you mean choux creme dough?
Yeah.
This is bad, Tsukino.
He’s really strong.
Without a doubt, he’ll make a pastry of the highest quality.
How’s it looking, Kawachi?
Yeah, it’s almost done.
Is that so?
Hey, you guys.
Tsubodzuka...
Guys, that bread is way too Negative.
If you’re going to give up, then just say so and give up.
Huh?
I don’t quite get you...
Do you mean that if we’re going to make that terrible a bread,
then we should just accept our defeat?
Yeah.
This little piece of...
But, he’s got a point...
Hey Azuma, let’s stop this.
The moment the super tuna ceased to be available, our loss was sealed.
Making a bread like this is not going to help us win...
Huh? What are you talking about?
I wouldn’t use this crappy bread just like that.
How harsh! But, what was that?!
I take this bread...
do this...
and then it goes into the garbage bag for burnable trash!
onna ji kao wo kurikaeshi te, sekai wa kyou mo mawarundarou
The world will probably go on today, with a repetition of the same faces,
demo wa sureteita koto hitotsu
but there was one thing that I’d forgotten.
ookiku iki wo suikondara, mawari ni michita ai no katachi
If I’m to take a deep breath, then the shape of the love that permeates my surroundings
mabushii kurai ni kirakira to
will shine so much that it’s blinding.
tooku de dareka ga yondeiru
Someone is calling me from far away...
sono koe taezu kono mune ni hibiku
And that voice constantly echoes in my heart.
chiisana yorokobi wo nosete mawari dasu merry-go-round
So, riding on my small pleasures, the merry-go-round begins to turn...
yoake no konai hi demo kokoro ni akari tomo sou
And even on days when the morning doesn’t come, it shines a light in my heart.
Next Episode
Hey!
He put my French bread into the garbage bag!
What are you doing, Azuma?!
Please calm down,
because there’s nothing more you can do, Kawachi-san.
Hey!
Next time, on Yakitate!! Japan,
Awaken!!
Super Kuroyanagi!
Be sure to watch.
Yakitate!! Seed of knowledge.
The specialty of Aomori, ichigoni, is a Japanese-style soup with a lot of sea urchin in it.
Note: Ichigo (いちご) means strawberries.
Aomori specialty
Ichigoni
Sea urchin
To make a Japanese
style soup
Apparently, since the urchins look like wild strawberries, it was named “ichigoni.”
Look like wild strawberries
Was named so
It’s not a dessert, right?